Commencing in 1951, Douglas Reed spent more than three years working in the New York Central Library, or tapping away at his typewriter in spartan lodgings in New York or Montreal. With workmanlike zeal, the book was rewritten, all 300,000 words of it and the epilogue added only in 1956. The story of the book itself — the unusual circumstances in which it was written, and how the manuscript, after having remained hidden for more than 20 years, came to light and was at last made for publication — is part of the history of our century, throwing some light on a struggle of which the multitudes know nothing: that conducted relentlessly and unceasing on the battleground for the human mind. Although there is correspondence to show that the title was one discussed with one publisher, the manuscript was never submitted but remained for 22 years stowed away in three zippered files on top of a wardrobe in Reed's home in Durban, South Africa. The Controversy of Zion can be left to speak for itself; indeed, it is a work of revisionist history and religious exposition; the central message of which is revealed in almost every page, understanding and compassionate of people, but severely critical of the inordinate and dangerous ambitions of their leaders. Everything that has happened since Reed wrote those last sentences in 1956 has continued to endorse the correctness of his interpretation of more than 2000 years of troubled history.
